WHEN thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,
3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;
4 For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
6 And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.
7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.
9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.
10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
13 And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16 But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:
18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.
19 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life) to employ them in the siege:
20 Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

1 When thou goest out to battell against thine enemies, and seest horses and charets, and a people more then thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee vp out of the land of Egypt.

2 And it shall bee when ye are come nigh vnto the battell, that the Priest shall approach and speake vnto the people,

3 And shall say vnto them, Heare O Israel, you approach this day vnto battell against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, feare not, and doe not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them.

4 For the Lord your God is hee that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to saue you.

5 ¶ And the Officers shall speake vnto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him goe and returne to his house, lest hee die in the battell, and an other man dedicate it.

6 And what man is hee that hath planted a Uineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and returne vnto his house, lest he die in the battell, and an other man eate of it.

7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him goe and returne vnto his house, lest he die in battell, and another man take her.

8 And the Officers shall speake further vnto the people: and they shall say, What man is there that is fearefull and faint hearted? let him goe and returne vnto his house, lest his brethrens heart faint as well as his heart.

9 And it shall be when the Officers haue made an end of speaking vnto the people, that they shall make Captaines of the armies to leade the people.

10 ¶ When thou commest nigh vnto a City to fight against it, then proclaime peace vnto it.

11 And it shall be, if it make thee answere of peace, and open vnto thee, then it shalbe that all the people that is found therein, shall be tributaries vnto thee, and they shall serue thee.

12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make warre against thee, then thou shalt besiege it.

13 And when the Lord thy God hath deliuered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite euery male thereof with the edge of the sword.

14 But the women, and the litle ones, and the cattell, and all that is in the citie, euen all the spoile thereof, shalt thou take vnto thy selfe, and thou shalt eate the spoile of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee.

15 Thus shalt thou doe vnto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.

16 But of the cities of these people which the Lord thy God doth giue thee for an inheritance, thou shalt saue aliue nothing that breatheth:

17 But thou shalt vtterly destroy them, namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hiuites, and the Iebusites, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they haue done vnto their gods, so should ye sinne against the Lord your God.

19 ¶ When thou shalt besiege a citie a long time, in making warre against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof, by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eate of them, and thou shalt not cut them downe ( for the tree of the field is mans life) to employ them in the siege.

20 Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meate, thou shalt destroy, and cut them downe, and thou shalt build bulwarkes against the city that maketh warre with thee, vntil it be subdued.

I == Num 23:21 ; Deut 31:6 , 8 ; 2nd Chr 13:12 ; 32:7-8 ; Ps 20:7 ; Isa 31:1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV == Deut 1:30; 3:22 ; Josh 23:10'

V == Neh 12:27

 

 

 

VI == Lev 19:23-24 ; Deut 28:30

 

 

VII == Deut 24:5

 

 

 

VIII == Judg 7:3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X == 2nd Sam 20:18 , 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIII == Num 31:7

 

XIV == Josh 8:2 ; 22:8

 

 

 

 

XVI == Num 21:2-3 , 35 ; 33:52 ; Deut 7:1-2 ; josh 11:14

 

 

 

 

 

XVIII == Ex 23:33 ; Deut 7:4 ; 12:30-31 ; 18:9

 

 

 

1 "When you go out to war against your enemies and you see horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid of them, for the LORD, your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, will be with you.

2 "When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and say to the soldiers:

3 'Hear, O Israel! Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Be not weakhearted or afraid; be neither alarmed nor frightened by them.

4 For it is the LORD, your God, who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies and give you victory.'

5 "Then the officials shall say to the soldiers, 'Is there anyone who has built a new house and not yet had the housewarming? Let him return home, lest he die in battle and another dedicate it.

6 Is there anyone who has planted a vineyard and never yet enjoyed its fruits? Let him return home, lest he die in battle and another enjoy its fruits in his stead.

7 Is there anyone who has betrothed a woman and not yet taken her as his wife? Let him return home, lest he die in battle and another take her to wife.'

8 In fine, the officials shall say to the soldiers, 'Is there anyone who is afraid and weakhearted? Let him return home, lest he make his fellows as fainthearted as himself.'

9 "When the officials have finished speaking to the soldiers, military officers shall be appointed over the army.

10 "When you march up to attack a city, first offer it terms of peace.

11 If it agrees to your terms of peace and opens its gates to you, all the people to be found in it shall serve you in forced labor.

12 But if it refuses to make peace with you and instead offers you battle, lay siege to it,

13 and when the LORD, your God, delivers it into your hand, put every male in it to the sword;

14 but the women and children and livestock and all else in it that is worth plundering you may take as your booty, and you may use this plunder of your enemies which the LORD, your God, has given you.

15 "That is how you shall deal with any city at a considerable distance from you, which does not belong to the peoples of this land.

16 But in the cities of those nations which the LORD, your God, is giving you as your heritage, you shall not leave a single soul alive.

17 You must doom them all - the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites - as the LORD, your God, has commanded you,

18 lest they teach you to make any such abominable offerings as they make to their gods, and you thus sin against the LORD, your God.

19 "When you are at war with a city and have to lay siege to it for a long time before you capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them. You may eat their fruit, but you must not cut down the trees. After all, are the trees of the field men, that they should be included in your siege?

20 However, those trees which you know are not fruit trees you may destroy, cutting them down to build siegeworks with which to reduce the city that is resisting you.

v 1-4. Before battle a priest was to encourage men not to be fearful because the Lord would go before them against their enemies.

 

 

 

 

 

v 5-9. If a man had just built a new house, or betrothed a wife, they were excused from battle. Any who were fearful were to return home too, so they would not make the others fearful. Captains then were appointed to lead the people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 10-14. Cities which were far off they could offer peace, and if the people accepted, they would just be made servants. If they resisted, all the males would be killed, but the women, children, cattle and other spoils they could keep.

 

 

 

 

v 15-18. There was to be know offer of peace to the wicked people where they were to inherit. They were to kill everything that breathed, utterly destroying them so that they would not lead Israel into following their false gods and wicked practices.

 

 

 

 

v 19,20. Any tree not for food could be cut down for bulwarks in siege of a city, but all trees which could be used for foods were to be preserved for Israel’s future use.